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This picture released by the French Army Communications Audiovisual office (ECPAD) shows French soldiers getting ready before boarding to Bamako, the capital from Mali, at Kossei camp in N'Djamena, Chad, Friday, Jan. 11, 2013. The battle to retake Mali's north from the al-Qaida-linked groups controlling it began in earnest Saturday, after hundreds of French forces deployed to the country and began aerial bombardments to drive back the Islamic extremists from a town seized earlier this week. (AP Photo/ R.Nicolas-Nelson, Ecpad)

This picture released by the French Army Communications Audiovisual office (ECPAD) shows French soldiers getting ready before boarding to Bamako, the capital from Mali, at Kossei camp in N'Djamena, Chad, Friday, Jan. 11, 2013. The battle to retake Mali's north from the al-Qaida-linked groups controlling it began in earnest Saturday, after hundreds of French forces deployed to the country and began aerial bombardments to drive back the Islamic extremists from a town seized earlier this week. (AP Photo/ R.Nicolas-Nelson, Ecpad)